Chinese Character

- ijj. _ TRtrONG e*i HOC sir PHAM TP HO CHI MINH HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Qlj TAP CHI KHOA HOC JOURNAL OF SCIENCE ISSN. KHOA HOC XA HQl VA NHAN VAN SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 1859-3100 Tap16,S6 7 (2019): 15-25 Vol. 16, No. 7(2019)- 15-25 Email: tapci)ikhoahoc%hcmue.edu.vn; Website. http:/Ackh.hcmue.edu.vr

Research Article LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE'S IDENTITY OF EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES IN "CHINESE CHARACTER CULTURAL SPHERE" IN THE ANCIENT AND MIDDLE AGES Phan Thu Van Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Corresponding author: Phan Thu Van -Email: [email protected] Received: April 18. 2019; Revised' May 21. 2019; Accepted: June 10, 2019

ABSTRACT Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese literature all used Chinese characters, received Chinese literary influence, and tried to create national writing based on Chinese characters' application. In this article, I will delve into the issue of influential language, literature and literaty genres within the Chinese character cultural sphere, while also detailing the specific nature and temperament of the developmental process in regards to each country's literature Keywords: identity. East Asean literature, Chinese character cultural sphere (iH^X'fbS). 1. Introduction Chinese characters are the root of Han culture and are considered the fifth largest invention of the Chinese nation. The four oldest types of scripts that have ever appeared in the world are: the Egyptian script, the Sumerian script, the Babylonian script and the Chinese script, but only Chinese characters are still alive today, all the others are now dead languages. Chinese characters are used not only in China, but together with Chinese culmre, crossing borders to neighboring countries, forming the "Chinese character culmral sphere". This sphere has proven extremely influential in the development and proliferation of the writing script and national literamre of many countries. It is the goal of the article to contribute to finding common and specific points in the correlation of character and literamre between China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam - the most relevant countries of the "Chinese character culmral sphere". 2. About "Chinese character cultural sphere" (il^:4:^tS) The Chinese character culmral sphere, also known as the "East Asian culmral sphere", "Confucian culmral sphere" or "Kanji culmral sphere", refers to the specific culmral region in East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia that have historically been influenced by Chinese pohtics and culmre and either used Chinese script in the past or remain influenced by them today.

Cite this article as: Phan Thu Van (2019). Language and Literature's identity of East Asian countries in "Chinese character cultural sphere" in the ancient and middle ages. Ho Chi Minh City University of Education Journal of Science, 16(7), 15-25. Tap chi Khoa hoc Trircyng BHSP TPHCM ^gpi^^^g / ,^,>/>;. .. ^ 25_

The "cultural circle/field", which originated in German "kulturkreis", was developed in 1897 or 1898 by the German scientist Leo Viktor Frobenius (1873-1938). The Japanese linguist called Kamei Takashi (ll^#, 1912-1995) borrowed the phrase from the Geraans to represent a term about the area of East Asia where the Chinese language was used in ancient times, so it translated into "cultural sphere" XitM. "Kanji/ Hanzi culmral sphere" rH-t-^'ftM from a geographical perspective can be called the East Asian cultural sphere :^^^'(t:ll, and the Japanese historian Nishijima Sadao (Mi!i|'^'^, 1919-1998), professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, was the first one to use this name in his research. Chen Liao (|Sî^, 1931 - now) in his work Extraterritorial Chinese Novels in the Chinese Character Culture Sphere {Q^^XitM^^^^^\-'MX'\''B^} has written that the culmral area of Chinese characters has been expanded five times: the first expansion of the Chinese character cultural sphere was the import of Chinese character culture into the Korean peninsula (It is said that the Chinese text was transmitted to North Korea at the end of the Shang Dynasty - about the 10th cenmry BC); the second time was when the Chinese character culture crossed the sea to Japan (around the 3rd cenmry BC); the third time was when Chinese characters were brought to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, et. al.; for the fourth time, when the Chinese people crossed the sea on long journeys and brought Chinese characters with them to Europe and America; for the fifth time, the various periods including the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century when writers and students of Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan went to Europe, America, Australia... and later in the eighties and nineties, when mainland Chinese writers and smdents did the same. Along with Chinese characters, ideological doctrines from mainland China were also spread through Korea, Japan, Vietnam... et. al. These countries all had centuries of using Chinese characters, imbued with many Chinese ideological dochines, and composed literamre in Chinese characters, before switching to using their own entirely national scripts. 3. Correlation between Chinese characters and Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese characters In term of scripts, it can be seen that there were four most shared characteristics of Japan, Korea and Vietnam in the ancient and middle ages: firstly they all adopted and used Chinese characters as an official writing system; secondly, they used Chinese characters to record their ethnic languages; next, they all created a new system of characters based on Chinese characters and forming the period of "parallel" language; finally, the national character systems were iniUally disregarded and considered "irregular" and secondary compared to Chinese characters, before developing rapidly and making a great contribution to their national literature. Looking first at Korea, the use of Chinese characters to record important documents Tap chi Khoa hpc Tru-cyng DHSP TPHCIVI p^„„ 2y,„ j/„„ occurred on the Korean peninsula in tlie Three Kingdoms period (57 BC - 668): In the first century, the Goguryeo used Chinese characters to compile 100 historical documents of Yugi ( ((SfS» ), along with many other history boolcs thereafter, showing a high level on using Chinese characters. However, these books are mostly damaged or lost because of historical volatihty After the Chinese characters were transmitted into the Korean peninsula, the ancient Koreans used both the sound and the meaning of Chinese characters as a way to record the national language, which is called "hyangchal" %t4 (#f 1-L). Therefore, in terms of recording ethnic language, "hyangchal" of Korea (since the first century AD) was the first bom, compared to the Manyogana i A^ J; 5 /J> 'i (S"^f£^) - the earliest Japanese phonetic writing system which borrowed from Chinese characters - kanji (from the 5th century AD) and the Vietnamese script "chir Nom" (since around the second cenmry to the 10th century AD). In tlie mid-fifteenth century, Hunminjeongeum S'Sî-B" (SJIISIE'H', meaning accurate sound to guide people) was bom during the reign of King Sejong (1B:>K, reigned from 1418 to 1450) that gave Korean literature a completely new twist. After many ups and downs, finally the phonetic character system that was inspired by the sliape of the Chinese characters became the Korean national language. In early Japan, Chinese characters were regarded as "the sacred language of the Buddha and Buddhist literature" (N.I. Konrat, 1999, p.24). Buddhist epitaphs were found written in Chinese characters, as well as some decrees of the court, the famous law of 17 terms of Prince Shotoku (604), Taiho-ritsuryo ( ((;^3^ll^^)) ) (702), verses in collections of poems Kaifuso ( {{'1^)11^)) ) (751), two historical works Tennoki ( ((?^Ji:fS)) ), and Koki ( ((Ê)) ) of Prince Shotoku (620, but lost in 645), historical work Nihongi ( (( 0 ÎB)) ) (720) among others. At the end of the 7th century, Japanese people began to find a way to use Chinese characters to write Japanese. The process of moving from no written language to the creation of the writing system "Kana" is a process of learning, imbuing, and transforming Chinese characters into intrinsic substance based on Japanese language and cultural characteristics. "Kana" is Japan's own phonetic script created from Chinese characters, used m parallel with Chinese characters. "Kana" ^J^:^ J , in Chinese means "pretending/ fake name", to distinguish it from the "real name" TJC^j which refers to the original Chinese language, which was written in different ways like Manyogana, Hiragana, Katakana, etc... In the eariy period, many people stiU held the view that only Chinese characters were worth learning for the upper class. In addition, ancient Japan also distinguished the onode script (:?§^male writing) and nonnade (fe^female writing). The soft, flexible form of written Hiragana was considered the writing of women and children, a kind of "vile" script. It remained that way until Kinotsurayuki (%iW.^), an artist who lived in the 9th-10th century during the Heian period, along with other poets under the reign of Daigo Tenno, selected the antiquated collection of poems Kokin Wakashu ( iti^^faWiM)) ) and decided to use Hiragana to write the book's preface which

17 Tap chi Khoa hoc Tru'dng DHSP TPHCM .'u^'-^y^- ,- ^^^-L- - -25_ opened the "poetics" (Witm), expressed the value of these soft words, and established the position of the national script. Later, Murasaki Shikibu's Genji monogatari ( {{W-Sz^ta)) ) as well as many other outstanding works written in Hiragana by other excellent writers also helped this form of writing to spread widely and gradually take on a more predominant role in literamre and become an important writing system of Japan up until today. In Vietnam, Chinese characters were also used as official national texts for more than ten cenmries. Vietnamese "Chii Nom" is formed on the basis of borrowing parts and the structure of Chinese characters. Although it was widely used by writers and there was even a short period of time when it was placed in an important position (during the time of Ho Quy Ly m the 15th cenmry and the time of Quang Trung Nguyen Hue in the XVIll cenmry), it never reached the level of complete replacement of Chinese characters or became unified in usage rules. By the twentieth century, Vietaam switched to using Latin script and Chir Nom was gradually replaced. 4. Correlation between Chinese literature and Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese literature Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese literature can all be divided into three major areas: oral folklore, national language writing literature and Sino writing literature. From the time the indigenous literature of each country was formed up until the nineteenth century, the oral folklore provided the foundation and source of each literamre. It was a fertile land cultivating the national language writing literature and Sino writing literature. However, Sino literature was the basis of the writing literature of all Japan, Korea and Vietnam. In terms of the form of genres and content, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese literature were all influenced by Chinese hterature, before gradually developing to their peaks which were marked by great works that were fijll of national spirit. For example, Japan's largest and most ancient poem collection, Man'yoshu (MMM), was modeled after the form of the Shijing ( ((0iS:}} ). Japanese long poems are also based on the ancient yuefu (I^H^) poem. In the Tang Dynasty, a lot of works of almost all of the greatest Chinese poets were received and translated into Japanese. Japanese Sino poems were strongly influenced by Li Bai $ S, Du Fu tipf, Wang Wei H^lfi, and especially Bai Juyi l^^M- Even the Japanese novel Genji monogatari ( {{'MS:^^J6a)) ), talking about the obsessive and profound love of men and women, was inspired by Song of Everlasting Sorrow ( {(M'/SW) ) of Bai Juyi. (Phan Thu Van, 2012, p. 41-52). Examples of Japanese literamre composed in Chinese characters have appeared in writings by a very large number of authors and a large number of works. In the book The overview of Sino literature's writers ( ii^^X-^^Ui^W) ) which was published in 1979, wriUen by Nagasawa Kozo -^-iR.#H and edited by Nagasawa Kikuya -^'iRM^^it, there were a total of 4930 writers who composed m Chinese characters, materials about whose life and work are still retained, This number is believed to be incomplete. Tap chi Khoa hpc Tru'O'ng BHSP TPHCM p^„„ 7j,„ ,/„„

The spread of Chinese characters also provided extremely favorable conditions for the dissemination of Chinese literature in the Korean peninsula, and also opened up a development space for Korean Sino literamre. Song of the yellow bird ( <(M,iilft» %2:7f) is the earliest Sino poem still preserved from the Korean peninsula. According to Tlie histoiy of the Three Kingdoms «HHiltB)> , this poem was composed by Yuri ^'^Wi.TrA^% of Goguryeo in the 17th year BC. This is a four-letter poem, it has a very similar style to ancient Chinese poetry with simple content and rustic words. Later, "The poem Lonely Rock Mountain {'^^.^{pffll^)) written by Jong Bop-sa (^d '^'^}(Si?i6f|i)), a Korean monk who studied abroad in China in the 6th century came to be considered Korea's first 5 - letter poem and was compared to the poem Country blessings {WiW) of Phap Thuan (tillLl) - also considered the earliest record of Vietaamese Sino poetry." (Phan Thi Thu Hien, 2017, p. 84). In the following centuries, the cultaral exchange between ancient China and Korea became more and more developed. One of Shilla's top poets, Choi Chi-won / ^liftja (857- ? ), at the age of 12 went to the Tang Dynasty to study abroad, at the age of 18 passed the Tang's examination and was appointed to be an official and later became a famous poet. (This case is comparable to Khuong Cong Phu #^$i (731 - 805) of Vietnam, who met the requirements of the Tang Dynasty in 780, becoming the first and only Annamese to ever become the Tang Dynasty 's Prime minister (during the reign of King Dezong J'lltllzrO- This is also comparable to Abe no Nakamaro Kfi^f^^i^S/ IHfIn f^l^ (698-770), the Japanese who hved in the Nara period and was sent to study in the Tang Dynasty, participated in a doctorate examination, and was appointed as mandann. He lived in China 54 years, through the three generations of Emperor Xuanzong^^^K, Suzong HTK, Daizong WT^, receiving a lot of praise). In Vietnam and Korea, Chinese literature developed sustainably, constantly moving from one development milestone to another, and every different period had its great authors, especially excellent Sino poets. Influenced by Chinese literature, in various periods with different lengths, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese literature formed the "parallel" literature's phenomenon: the Sino literature co-existing in parallel with indigenous literature. However, this phenomenon ended in Japan quite early, while in Vietnam and Korea, it lasted until the twentieth century, and the most prosperous period of both literatures in these two countries was from the 17th to the 19th century. An "advantage" that helped Japan escape Chinese influence, was that by the end of the 9th century, diplomatic relations with China were interrupted and Japan no longer sent messengers to China. But this only took place after the intensively learning and fully utilizing all that had been learned in the socio-culmral reality Meanwhile, the geographical position of Korea and Vietnam adjacent to China as well as other historical conditions led to these two countries experiencing more direct and long- term effects. In order to illustrate more cleariy the cortelation of the 4 countiies in tenns of literature, this article provides an overview as follows: Tap chi Khoa hpc Trtrgng BHSP TPHCM ..•.-25

China Japao Korea Vietnam Before Oral literature Oral literature Oral literature Oral literature 8th The beginning of century Chinese characters. 2 BC - 3 - 4 word poetry appeared. 8th- 3rd Pre-Qin prose. century China's first poetry BC collection: Shijing (5th century BC) 2nd Historical record/ century IShiji StlE Si Maqian BC (2nd-1st century BC) Isl The formation of 1000 years Chinese century yuefu miB. domination (111 BC - ;BC , Formation and 905 AD) development of fu^S:, Isi j Poetry and prose century [ also called Han fu ' composed m Chinese AD 'mt (2nd BC - 3rd characters began to AD) appear. Nineteen ancient In the first century, the poems 'S'Ef-f'A'i' Goguryeo used '(1st-2nd AD) Chinese characters to 1 compile 100 historical ' documents of Yugi 'ie»)

2nd century 3rd The fomiation of note century novels »E'i-K Han 4tli - Wei - Six Dynasties Baekje compiled the cenmry m- « - Aiiiii history book called Seogi C^i^l mm). 51h Hyangga ^^7\ was century bom based on Korean folk songs. Hyanggog ^^ was bom based on traditional Korean music. 6th Formation and Baekje compiled century development of the National histoiy Palace's poetry «•*»

7th The golden age of Goguryeo edited and centtiry poetry: Tang rewrote Yugi

20 I'gp chi Khoa hoc TriFong DHSP TPHCM Phan Thu Van

poem^t#. ( ((^te» ) in Formation and volumes {(#fft)) . development of the 8th Records of ancient century Tangfuffflt. events/Co,-*(712) Formation and ^, r-, - , J r , Ihe Chronicles of Tang chuanqi/ Tan; Sino poems collection Dynasty stories ^!:fr.;:r.r^ ^apan/M/.„g/(720)Kaijuso{lS\) . The oldest extant collection of Japanese waka/Ma»>'os/i» (771)

'9th The oldest extant Khuong Cong Phu century Japanese prose became the first narrative Tim tale of Vietnamese author in the bamboo cutter! history to have a fii (Blc) Taketori - monogatari recorded, which has (893?) been passed on to this day, Bgch Vdn chieu xuan hoi ('lammmmm)} > llOth Formation and he monogatari Due lo the electoral Vietnamese century development of the (931?) - Japanese uta regime, literature of independent literature Song ci 5\iWi (lOlh - monogatari, or the Chinese characters formed ' 13th century) collection of waka developed strongly, The literary heritage of ; Poetry and fti poems and associated playing a key role in Chinese characters ; continued to evolve narratives, dating from the literature of the during the Ly Tran I into a different genre the Heian period. Goryeo period (918 - period was seen in a [during this period. The genre of diary 1392). variety of genres, Thien stories appeared with Local lyrical poetry do chieu (1010), Dij , Appearance of the Toka-niki (935), the from around the 11th chu ll luang hick vdn, genre "story-tellmg genre of Juihutsu century to the 14th Viet Dien u hnh tdp appeared with century became (1329), Thien uyen tdp person" / shuohua ren Makura-nososhi (936) collectively known as anh ngu luc. Bach ISiSA, also called The special creation of Goryeo sogyo, Ddng giang phu, Ngoc shuoshu ren ISSA. tanka poetry was changga or pyolgok link lien phu vv.. In From this basis, formed with the poetry The genres of addition, there were: storyteller's script/ collection Kokin Gyeonggichega, Sijo Dai Viet sir ki (1272), huaben lE^^ and the waka.shu (950) and Gasa were bom in Dai Viet sir luoc (about genre of hiiaben's the second half of the 1377). 11th The Japanese classical imitation began to Goryeo period. The earliest Nom text century novel, considered to be form. The group of poets of the Tran Dynasty still the world's first novel: called n^^^ m existence remains Cir The late ofGenjil y®.fe-t;S5 composing trdn lac dao by Tran Genji monogatari Nhan Tong, Vdn Yen lu (1010) was written. in Chinese characters in the middle of phil by Zen master 12th Appearance of epic Goryeo achieve high Huyen Quang, century accounts such as The achievement in terms Tale of llie Heike/ of Chinese poetry art Heike - inonogaian The works of historical (often likened to a stories developed, Japanese Iliad), etc. including the history Appearance of and unofficial history. Sarugaku and the Tap chi Khoa hoc Trti-ang BHSP TPHCM

storytellers Sarugaku - such as The histoiy of hoshi. Three Kingdoms 13th Formation and Formation of genres ((^m^m)} (1145), century development of the with stage A Study of Silla Buddhism in the Three Yuan qu JL iJll, characteristics, the Kingdoms Stories including sanqutfi ill! most typical were (1281). andzajulSÎ. kusemai and gengaku. 14th Noh was performed century and developed. 15th The golden age of Appearance of jorun - In the mid-fifteenth Literature developed century Chinese the classical a type of sung century, with rich genre systems ~ novel, also called the narrative with Hunminjeongeum The greatest 16th chapter novel/ shamisen -S'il'§-§- was bom achievement of ih*^ century zhanghui xiaoshuo accompaniment and that gave Korean prose of Chinese characters in the period _ $|n]/jN|S, Ming-Qing Otogi-zoshi. hterature a completely new twist of 15th - 17th century 17th Haiku poetry formed fictionajît'Jîft. were Thanh Tong di and developed. Poetic works became century Originally, the chapter thdo and Truyin ky mgn Theatre developed to musical and are novel inherited luc. Us peak. performed in early storyteller's script, Joseon court rituals, The novel continued to with a focus on creating the Akjang Nora literature appeared evolve with the historic narrative. At genre. in large collections, monogatari genre the end of Yuan The Hangeul novel such as QuSc dm thi tap writing about the life Dynasty and early appeared along with (254 poems), Hong Dire of the people in the Ming Dynasty, the the Chinese translation qudc dm tht tap (328 cities. representative of the Ming novels into poems) et al during the classical novel' Korean Heroic novels, second half of the 15th century creating "the appeared, e.g.: The sleepwalking novels, century of Nom Tang romance of the Three nightlife novels and poetry". kingdoms family novels were bom in turn. Typical In the 16th and 17th {{^mmm, The works included' The cenmries, Nom poetry water margin nine cloud dream became the national {{Tkmm)) vv. (^-^-^ iAmwy). poetry reaching a large From the middle of scale, such as Ldm Chinese literature the Ming Dynasty's tuyin van (185 onwards, the chapter reached the period of sentences), Ngoa Long novels matured, with prosperity, the typical Cuang van {136 Journey to the IVesI work was Kum-0- sentences), Tu Dung Shin-Hwa {-^S.^^ van (332 sentences), the mmm, jin ping historical long poem Mei iMkU)) etc. Gajeon and allegorical Thien Nam ngi7 luc Theatre continues to literature, the (8136 sentences) develop, setting new legendary novels written in the form of milestones, such as flourished Viemamese traditional The Peony pavilion A collection focused 6-8 word poetry; Tir mtnm . on writing Chinese thai khiic vinh (nearly 400 sentences), Thien In the Qing Dynasty, characters' works from the time of Three Nam minh gidm (938 the chapter novel kingdoms to the time sentences) written in continued to grow of Joseon was the form of Vietnamese steadily with works compiled in 1478 traditional "song that like Unofficial including 45 volumes. luc bat" poetry. History of the Scholars Tap chi Khoa hoc Trtrcyng BHSP TPHCM p^^^,, y.^„ ^^„

((f8W<1-S;)> , and 133boolis. 10,. "Ltaozhai" Strange _. lllr. '«/^^ from a lonely Drama mask dance The 18th century and ""'"'y ...^,n mmtP.m ?T u - "^^""^^"^^ ^^e first half of I9th etc. (which originated from century was "The agricultural nttials) golden age" of Chapter novels ^^^^^^^ ^„^^j .^^^ ^^^^^^^^ Vietnamese developed to their the city. literamre. peak with the The pansori novel was Nom literature masterpiece Hong bom^based on the flourished with the 17 ""tS LtZ'l ^^""""^ ^^^^^ «f following categories: of red mansions""""'""" traditiona' l" singing Nom Tang poetry, 6-8 panson m folklore, the word poetry, form of mm$ most representative "song that luc bat" work is The story of poetry and vocal poetry, , Chunhyang (^^^ creating the culmination #^j$). of national literature, -such as Ho Xuan 19th Shintaishi (JTrMf^, or The genre of Japga Huong's poems and century "new poetry") became consistmg of \2 j;.^^yg„ j^j^^^^hmh phu a counterweight to the different types appears. „g^^ y^;,^^_ Q,^^ ^^^ ancient forms of j „gan, khiic, etc. ancient waka and haiku. I Of course, briefly generalizing all four literatures is an impossible task, because it is impossible to frame the lively development of literature on any graphical tables alone. However, we tried to show the main events and highlights in the development of the genres in each literature. Using this method, it is not difficult to realize that; Chinese hterature perfected poetry before perfecting the novel, while Japanese literature flourished m novels before mastering poetry. Meanwhile, Korean literature did not separate poetry from music throughout its development process, and Vietnamese literature reached its most prosperous stage by combining poetry and novels into a single genre. This may partly prove the problem of literary identity. We know that at the beginning of human literature, poetry was bom from the process of labor, and was always associated with melody, but after that, music and poetry gradually separated. In Kojiki and Nihongi, the melodies existed under the presenting of sound, whereas the poems in Manyoshu were very different: "What made Manyoshu's poems poetry, were not their melodies, but more melodic laws and the laws that still organize the tone of human voices including the rules of rhythm and its activity related to rhythm. These are not songs but verses that were written to be read." (N.I Konrat, 1999, p. 34). The separation from melodies of Japanese literature was probably due to the strong, rational thinking and the intrinsically calm nature of this literature, which led to the creation of novels as a "unique" historical phenomenon: "As we know from the history of world literature, in the majority of the peoples present on the historical stage in the middle of the century, the prose of the story begins from the epic - from the miraculous story to the long poems. Japanese storytelling literattire also originated from miraculous stories but it quickly evolved, skipping the epic songs and going straight into novels." (N.I Konrat, 1999, p. 52)

23 Tap chi Khoa hoc TrLfcyng DHSP TPHCM ^„ j^,, ^- ; ,^;;..^.^>1L

Unlike Japan, the earliest poetry in the Korean peninsula was ancient folk song combined with music and dance. During the Three Kingdoms (5th century to the 10th century), Korean national poetry developed a new form of "rural song" based on a folk song, and this "song" took Korean traditional music as its basis. The word "hyang" (means "rurar'^[S) in "hyangga %t7}" (^|S|^) and Hyanggog %1=^ {%^) means what belongs to indigenous people, as a way to distinguish itself from Tang's song and Tang's poetry. In Korean literature, lyrical folk songs, national language poetry and the "pansori" versions were all for singing, rather than for reading, and the music has never been truly separated from indigenous literature. Since then, one of the greatest achievements of Korean literature, pansori novels, with the representative of Xuan Huong story, is a combination of music, theatre and hterature. This also contributes to explaining one of the contemporary cultural phenomenons, whereby Korean movies today are gaining worldwide attention and popularity, in a way that cannot be separated from their literary origins. Considering the specific nature and temperament of each literature, it can be seen that despite being in the cultural sphere of Chinese characters, Japan and Korea are "antipodal" because the core spirit of Japanese literature is a subtle quietness, while the core spirit of Korean literature is a straight vividness. In this aspect, China and Vietnam also show that their ethnicity is completely different, because Chinese literature is imbued with quiet contemplation, while Vietnamese literature is full of anxiousness. At the same time, Chinese literature is always cumulative, while Vietnamese literature tends to be scattered. It can be seen that to understand Japanese hterature, one must have a calm mind; in order to understand Korean literature, one must have a sense of music; in order to understand Chinese literature, one must have a historical thinking ability; in order to understand Vietnamese literature, one must have a poetic soul. Within the narrow scope of this paper, we cannot prove arguments. However, these are completely scientific conclusions, and we will continue to improve on them in subsequent studies. 5. Conclusion Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese literature all used Chinese characters, received Chinese literary influence, and tried to create national writing based on Chinese characters' application. Language is the outer shell of thought, while language dependency is also ideological dependence. So the efforts to localize Chinese characters and the creation of ethnic writing were also efforts to "escape Chinese influence". On the basis of the development and perfection of the language and literature, each countiy experienced "parallel" stages of development, followed by breakthrough efforts involving the formation of the national literature to create their own mark in histoiy.

• Conflict of Interest: Author have no convict of interest to declare.

24 Tap chi Khoa hqc TriFcyng DHSP TPHCM phan Thu Van

REFERENCES N. I. Konrat. (translated by Trinh Ba Dinh). (1999). Japanese literature from ancient to early - modern period Da Nang Publishing House. Phan Thi Thu Hien. (2017). Korean classical literature - Progress and identity. Social science publishing house. Phan Thu Van. (2012). Chinese cultural factors in ''Genji monogatarf and their literary significance. Ho Chi l\4lnh City University of Education Journal of Science (Social Sciences and Humanities), 38{72), 41-52.

MOT SO VAN DE VE BAN sAc NGON NGLT VA VAN HOC CUA CAC QUOC GIA DONG A TRONG "VONG VAN HOA CHU" HAN" THCyi CO TRUNG DAI Phan Thu Van Truang Dgi hoc Su-phgm Thdnh pho Ho Chi Minh Tdc gid hen he: Phan Thu Van —Email. [email protected] Ngay nhdn bdi: 18-4-2019; ngdy nhdn hai sira. 21-5-2019; ngay duyet dang: 10-6-2019

TOM TAT Vdn hoc Triiu Tien. Nhdt Bdn vd Viet Nam ciing sic dung chu: Hdn va tiep nhgn dnh huang vdn hoc Trung Hoa, ddng th&i deu co y thicc sdng tao elm viit ddn toe vd ung dung tren nen tdng chit Hdn. Trong pham vi hep cua bdi nghien cuu, chung toisedi vdo vdn de dnh hudng vdn tu, vdn hoc vd the logi van hoc ciia cdc quoc gia tieu bieu trong vong vdn hoa chU Hdn, dong thai chi ra diim rieng vi tinh chat vd khi chdt trong qud trinh phdt trien cua moi nin vdn hoc. Tie khoa: ban sac, van hgc Dong A, vong van hoa chu Han.